Chips with Everything
Dust jacket 1st edition, Jonathan Cape, 1962
Written byArnold Wesker
Date premiered27 April 1962 (1962-04-27)
Place premieredRoyal Court Theatre
Original languageEnglish
GenreDrama

Chips with Everything is a 1962 play by Arnold Wesker. The play shows class attitudes at the time by examining the life of a corporal.

Productions

Chips with Everything premiered in the West End at the Royal Court Theatre on 27 April 1962, and subsequently transferred to the Vaudeville Theatre. Directed by John Dexter, the cast featured Frank Finlay as Corporal Hill.[1]

The play opened on Broadway at the Plymouth Theatre (and then the Booth Theatre) on 1 October 1963 after one preview, and closed on 8 February 1964 after 149 performances. British actors Alan Dobie (as Corporal Hill), Barry Evans (as First Airman) and George Layton (as First Corporal) made their Broadway debut.[2] The director was John Dexter, with a cast that featured Gary Bond as 276 Thompson (Pip), Corin Redgrave (Pilot Officer), Norman Allen (Fourth Airman), John Levitt as 277 Cohen (Dodger), John Noakes and Gerald McNally (Third Airman).[3]

The play was revived in the West End in 1997, with a production at the Royal National Theatre, Lyttelton Theatre, from 4 September 1997 to 13 December 1997. Directed by Howard Davies, the set was designed by Rob Howell, with a cast that featured Rupert Penry-Jones, Ian Dunn, Eddie Marsan, and James Hazeldine as Corporal Hill.[4]

Adaptations

The first television adaptation came in 1963, when scenes from the Royal Court Theatre production aired on BBCtv featuring Derek Fowlds, John Noakes, Ronald Lacey and Corin Redgrave.[5] BBC television adapted the play for their daytime 'Schools and Colleges' programming in September 1969, dramatizing the play in six 35-minute episodes,[6] having previously presented a radio adaptation starring Martin Jarvis in May 1968.[7] In 1975, the play was presented on BBC1 as part of the Play of the Month strand, directed by Waris Hussein and produced by Cedric Messina, with David Daker heading the cast.[8]

Plot summary

The play examines the nature of class consciousness in post-war Britain.

Pip Thompson has been "conscripted for National Service" in the Royal Air Force [RAF], but prefers to be treated as an ordinary airman and not become an officer. Pip is a socialist who has seen "squalor of London's East End, typified by greasy cafés offering ‘chips with everything’".[9][10][11]

Pip is the only privately-educated recruit in a draft of other National Service recruits. He has tried to buck the system by not applying for an officer's commission. The officers, hostile to this socio-political protest, do everything they can to make him abandon his decision, and to join them in the ranks of commissioned officers.

While Pip is essentially on an ego trip, through his experiences the class system is examined. In particular, how powerful forces make sure Pip conform to his role as a middle class member of society, and accept a role as a commissioned officer.

Songs performed

References

  1. ↑ "Wexler; Play, Books" arnoldwesker.com, accessed May 16, 2013
  2. ↑ "Chips With Everything – Broadway Play – Original | IBDB". Retrieved 6 February 2020.
  3. ↑ "Listing" Internet Broadway Database, accessed May 16, 2013
  4. ↑ " 'Chips with Everything' " Archived 2010-12-13 at the Wayback Machine albemarle-london.com (archive), accessed May 16, 2013
  5. ↑ "Chips with Everything - BBC Television - 20 August 1963 - BBC Genome". genome.ch.bbc.co.uk.
  6. ↑ "For Schools and Colleges: Drama: Chips With Everything: Pt 1 - BBC One London - 23 September 1969 - BBC Genome". genome.ch.bbc.co.uk.
  7. ↑ "CHIPS WITH EVERYTHING - BBC Radio 4 FM - 27 May 1968 - BBC Genome". genome.ch.bbc.co.uk.
  8. ↑ "Chips with Everything - BBC One London - 28 September 1975 - BBC Genome". genome.ch.bbc.co.uk.
  9. ↑ "Overview. 'Chips with Everything'" oxfordindex.oup.com, accessed May 16, 2013
  10. ↑ George W. Brandt. "Politics in the British Theatre: Some Recent Playwrights" (PDF). University of Hong Kong. Retrieved 1 February 2011.
  11. ↑ Nicholas de Jongh (5 September 1997). "Chips with Everything". London Evening Standard. Archived from the original on 21 April 2013. Retrieved 3 February 2011.
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